The Real World: Austin (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Real World: Austin is the sixteenth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. The Real World: Austin won "Favorite Season" at the 2008 The Real World Awards Bash. The season premiere was watched by nearly 4 million viewers.

Assignment

Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates, continued participation in which has been mandatory to remain part of the cast since the Back to New York season. The Austin cast had to shoot, edit and direct their own documentary on the South by Southwest music festival. Their "boss" was Paul Stekler, an award winning documentary filmmaker who taught at the University of Texas.

The residence

This season the cast was housed in the west half of a warehouse at 301 San Jacinto Boulevard at East 3rd Street in Austin, Texas, of which were used for filming. The interior used for the series was designed by Austin designer Joel Mozersky. Construction took three and a half weeks. 44 cameras were mounted on walls for filming. After filming ended, the warehouse was completely gutted. The west half of it was turned into a Mexican restaurant called The Rio Grande. The east half was leased to a printing services company. The house was converted into the Vince Young Steakhouse, which opened in November 2010.

Cast

Cast member	Age	Hometown	Biography
Danny Jamieson	21	Billerica, Massachusetts	MTV.com describes Danny as a humble, sensitive, attractive, and assertive man. Before filming he wanted to become a lawyer, but has chosen to help his father with the family business first. Danny dated Melinda throughout the season.
Johanna Botta	21	Riverside, California	Johanna is Peruvian, born in Lima, Peru, who moved to the U.S. when she was eleven, and had been living in Southern California when she was cast. She aspires to be a clinical therapist, specializing in marriage and counseling for families. MTV.com describes her as highly opinionated and argumentative.
Lacey Buehler	23	Tallahassee, Florida	Lacey was raised by ex-hippie-turned devoutly religious parents who raised her in a strict manner, monitoring the TV and movies that she viewed. This made socialization at school difficult for her, but according to MTV, has given her a unique style.
Melinda Stolp	21	Germantown, Wisconsin	Melinda is an aspiring dentist working as a waitress when she was cast. MTV.com describes her "sexy, creative, and quick witted", and as a "once shy girl [who] has completely come out of her shell and truly lives by the saying 'I will try anything once.'" She had a boyfriend, but she fell in love with castmate Danny.
Nehemiah Clark	19	Rancho Cucamonga, California	Nehemiah was born to a mother who was currently in rehab, and mtv.com describes his life as "a combination of heartbreaking and hopeful", and Nehemiah himself as a "bright, charismatic young man who has the wisdom and experience of someone far beyond his years."
Rachel Moyal	21	Valencia, California	Rachel is a former U.S. Army combat nurse and Iraq War veteran who enlisted in the military to pay for college. According to mtv.com, her military experience made her resilient, confident, and outspoken. She is sexually outgoing, and sees Jenna Jameson as her hero.
Wes Bergmann	19	Leawood, Kansas	MTV.com describes Wes, a junior and a frat boy at Arizona State University, as an "obnoxious, super-competitive jock", "the guy you love to hate", but also "bright and entrepreneurial." He cannot wait to graduate so he can start his own business.

^: Age at the time of filming.

After filming

The four female cast mates posed in lingerie for a cover feature in Stuff magazine.

At the 2008 The Real World Awards Bash, the Austin season won "Favorite Season" Danny and Melinda won "Favorite Love Story" and Johanna won "Favorite Dance-Off".

When filming ended Melinda moved to Boston to be with Danny. A film crew followed them in New York City as they took a carriage ride through Central Park and he proposed before the reunion show. On August 2, 2008, they married at Castle Hill outside Boston, with most of their former cast members among those in attendance. Danny owns a construction company while Melinda is planning a career in dentistry. During the premiere of The Challenge: Cutthroat, Melinda reveals in a confessional that she and Danny were going through a divorce.

Wes and Johanna announced during the reunion show that they began dating several months after the conclusion of filming the show. They appeared together in Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat, and Wes promised to use his prize money to pay for her engagement ring as he won the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel. At the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III reunion show Johanna announced that she and Wes are no longer together. During the reunion special for Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island, which premiered November 5, 2008, it was revealed that KellyAnne Judd from The Real World: Sydney was dating Wes at the time. Wes and Johanna both appeared on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins (as did KellyAnne Judd), during which they experienced interpersonal conflicts stemming from the game and relationship issues. During the reunion for The Ruins the two indicated that they were never officially engaged, despite prior indications to the contrary. In a clip from Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins reunion, which aired December 16, 2009, Wes and KellyAnne revealed that they were no longer a couple.

Real World/Road Rules Challenges

Cast Member	RW/RR Challenges	Challenges Won	Total Money Earned
Danny Jamieson	Fresh Meat, The Inferno 3, The Gauntlet III, The Ruins, Fresh Meat II, Battle of the Seasons (2012)	None	$0
Johanna Botta	Fresh Meat, The Gauntlet III, The Island, The Ruins	The Gauntlet III	$50,000
Lacey Buehler	Battle of the Seasons (2012)	None	$0
Melinda Stolp	Fresh Meat, The Gauntlet III, Cutthroat, Battle of the Seasons (2012)	None	$0
Nehemiah Clark	The Duel, The Gauntlet III, The Duel II, Rivals	The Gauntlet III	$50,000
Rachel Moyal	The Inferno 3, The Gauntlet III	The Gauntlet III	$50,000
Wes Bergmann	Fresh Meat, The Duel, The Ruins, Fresh Meat II, Rivals, Battle of the Exes, Battle of the Seasons (2012)	The Duel	$185,000

Challenge in bold indicates that the contestant was a finalist on The Challenge, but lost in the final race.

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